MANCHESTER United fans are plotting a Red revolution to stop the club falling into the hands of a Chelsea-style tycoon.

And supporters' trust Shareholders United is urging fans everywhere to stump up a tenner - and BUY a major voice in the running of the club.

Speculation about an expected £600 million takeover bid has been rife since it was reported at the weekend that three foreign billionaires are ready to pounce.

'Bite their toes'

Investment banker Keith Harris claims he is prepared to broker a deal, and that there has been interest from mega-rich consortia from Saudi Arabia, Russia and Europe. Shareholders United reacted to the news with alarm and vowed to fight any takeover.

"If they are dipping their feet in the water to test it we will bite their toes off," says Sean Bones, vice-chair of SU, who formed in the mid-90s and helped to head off the last big attempt to swallow up United, by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

SU feel they could mobilise enough Reds to thwart any takeover. Says Bones: "If someone wanted to come in and buy a majority shareholding in the club, that would be possible because we reckon there is a loose element of around 45 per cent of shares held by people who would be willing to sell.

"But there are also, we reckon, between 15 and 20 per cent of shares held by hard-core United supporters, people who hold shares because they love the club.

"When these billionaires want to come in, they want to buy the club lock, stock and barrel, and that means buying about 90 per cent of the club, to force the other ten per cent to sell. They would want to buy it whole and take it off the stock market, which would mean supporters have no say and no influence.

"We are telling these magnates they won't be able to do it - by rallying everyone together we reckon we could push the price of buying United up to between £800 million and £1billion."

Some United fans have been excited at the prospect of an Abramovich-style takeover - they feel it would give Sir Alex Ferguson unlimited funds to buy players, as has happened at Chelsea. But SU are sceptical.

Said Bones: "These people promise they will buy any players you want - but what usually happens is that after a year or two the supporters end up paying for it when seat prices are increased to ridiculous levels.“

But SU don’t just want to fight off a take-over – they dream of effecting a bloodless coup of their own, giving the fans a powerful voice on the board, and maybe, one day, taking over the club themselves.

“It’s not as crazy as it might sound,” said Bones.

“Opinion polls reckon there are 53 million United fans worldwide. Support “It is not unrealistic to think that a supporters’ trust like ourselves could attract one-fiftieth of that support – if we did that we would have one million members.” One man who doesn’t think it is a crazy idea is Sir Alex Ferguson, who has already offered his backing, saying: “Groups like Shareholders United can only be good for the game. I’d urge United fans to get involved.” SU are quite a way from their dream at present, with 3,000 members, but they are working to break down barriers. SU have worked to make it easy for United fans to buy a share in the club – they can join instantly on the trust’s www.shareholdersunited.org website, or by picking up a form from Bones outside the ground. SU buy up shares from Brewin Dolphin stockbrokers, to pass on to ordinary United fans. "Every United supporter should make it their business to own at least one share in the club," said Bones. “Old Trafford is our home and it is our job to defend it when someone tries to take it away with bribes of money to be spent on new players.” Would a fans takeover be the best thing for United, or would you welcome a Russian billionaire? Have your say.